This morning a strong northwesterly wind swept down the Sonoma County coastline and pushed its way into the lower Russian River estuary. Strong winds tend to keep wildlife hunkered down out of sight. I decided to alter the plan to paddle near the mouth in favor of paddling the upper reaches of the estuary near Monte Rio where the wind would be more manageable and the bird life more abundant.

It was a good choice. There was a lot to see.

Green Herons waded along the shore in the water primrose (Ludwigia peploides, an invasive species) which flourishes in the Russian River anywhere the water is fresh, warm, shallow, and slow moving. Whatever those smaller herons were eating was down the hatch before I could see what it was.

When approached Green Herons freeze in place to avoid being noticed, a strategy that works pretty well. This behavior also makes them ideal subjects for the amateur photographer.

Many of the birds today were in out pairs. A couple of killdeer patrolled Sheridan Beach where I stopped to quaff a thermos of hot black tea.

A little further down the estuary a female Kingfisher alighted in a tree close by. These birds usually fly off long before they get within range of my kayak-born camera. On this occasion she was paying so much attention to a nearby male that she didn’t mind my close approach.

Male is on the left, female on the right

A river otter did its best to stay out of sight.

I paddled as far as the pole-mounted osprey nest installed on Ryan’s Beach. A pair of Osprey kept watch from above. I saw Ospreys nesting on a trip to Lake Sonoma earlier this spring in March I wondered how long the nesting season is for Osprey.

The paddle back to Monte Rio was both with the wind and against the current. The two fluid currents nearly cancelled themselves out, providing a pleasant journey back to the launch ramp in Monte Rio.

A Mama Merganser was teaching her offspring how to get a midday meal out of the river. I got a little bit of video of it that you can see on Youtube.

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 I will go to the Jenner Visitor Center to join with other volunteers in a River clean-up in observance of Earth Day 2016.

By way of warming up for tomorrow’s festivities, I canoed today out of Monte Rio, some 13 km (8 miles) upstream from Jenner, in search of recreation, birds, and garbage. There were no other boats out today and little human activity apart from an attractive young couple sunbathing on the Villa Grande beach.

Many birds were out in the 70° F sunny weather: Great Blue Herons, Ospreys, Ravens, Crows, Kingfishers, Turkey Vultures, Stellar’s Jays, Tree Swallows, gulls, sparrows, and many other small birds I’ve yet to learn. A turtle sunned high on a log. A river otter swam quickly upstream.

I picked up the usual assortment of garbage (plastic single-use beverage bottles, aluminum beer cans, lost shoes, tennis balls that got away from the retriever, and, the prize recovery: a ride-on motorized Jeep. That thing weighed more than 50 pounds and made my canoe tippy. Weight wise, it was my biggest clean-up day ever.

The ride-on motorized Jeep on its way to the recycler.

If you’re interested in joining tomorrow’s event, come on down. Organizers say that they can accommodate walk-ups.

Eight days ago when I came to Lake Sonoma, the lake was several feet higher and almost empty of other users. (40,000 acre feet have been released in the past 3 weeks. One wonders why.)

Eight days ago, I had been alone on my way up the Dry Creek arm of the lake. That was on a Thursday and it was cooler.

Today when I returned to explore the Cherry Creek arm of the lake with my wife, it was a Friday and at a little more than 70°F, noticeably warmer.

There were many other people on the lake today—mostly men fishing all by themselves, and some guys fishing with a buddy.

There was plenty for us non-fisherfolk to see.

Near the launch ramp at Yorty Creek is a snag where this pair of Double-crested Cormorants perched 3 meters above the lake.

Double-crested Cormorants

Soon after entering the Cherry Creek arm, my wife pointed out a Bald Eagle circling high overhead. It gained altitude rapidly in a very strong thermal. In less than two minutes it was beyond the reach of my camera. (I took 5 photos at full zoom of this bird in 100 seconds. It gets discernibly smaller and more pixellated in each photo.)

Bald Eagle high in sky and climbing quickly

By far the most abundant bird was the voluble, but elusive Acorn Woodpecker. They prefer to work the back side of a limb or trunk so they can stay out of sight. They also flit from tree to tree often and chasing and scolding one another through the trees. Like Kingfishers, Acorn Woodpeckers are very hard to catch on film, er, in pixels.

The elusive, garrulous, Acorn Woodpecker

Turtles were plopping into the water, too. A week ago there was much more noise from wind whistling through the trees and from streams tumbling into the lake. Today the calmer conditions allowed the turtles to hear our approach and take cover fast. One guy, though, was either braver than the rest, or, perhaps hard-of-hearing. I got his picture.

Turtle in the Sun

Osprey Sex and Sashimi

A pair of Ospreys provided the best birdwatching of the day.

On our way to our lunch stop we passed this couple. They had spent some time studying a nest from a perch on a tree that was nearby and above it.

Mama Osprey overlooking her nest

After we passed by they both flew down into the nest to make sure it will be a suitable place to raise their young.

Mr. and Mrs. Osprey, an Amorous Couple

We went on our way to find a place to have our picnic lunch. About an hour later, having finished our own lunch we came upon the nest again. As we paddled by, the male mounted the female and they mated.

It was a quickie. He finished before I could wrest my camera from its case.

That done, he flew off, winging his way down the main arm of Cherry Creek. He returned minutes later with a sashimi lunch.

Osprey with fish 4/1/16 He sought more privacy for eating than for sex. And his meal took a lot more time.

This bird caught in a few minutes a fish that weighed, perhaps as much as a quarter of his own weight, a full meal for him and his sweetie. Although every human fisherman I asked told me he’d had a good day fishing today, I don’t think anyone had a better afternoon on the lake than this Osprey.

It will be fun to visit again later this spring to see their nest with hatchlings in it.

I ventured a few miles upstream of the Russian River estuary today to paddle out of Lake Sonoma’s Yorty Creek launch area near Cloverdale.

On weekdays it’s quiet and peaceful there. Except at the launch area, I saw only one other boater on the Lake the whole day in more than 10 miles of paddling.

Ospreys were about. This one was occupying a nest built on top of a tree standing about 8 feet above the lake.

Another was trying to catch a fish.

There was enough ambient noise from brooks tumbling into the lake and from wind in the trees that it was possible to approach turtles without them hearing the kayak. This one dove into the water soon after the camera shutter clicked.

A killdeer stood on a rock near and let me drift in quite close for this picture.

Acorn Woodpeckers were busy in their pantries doing what they do best: storing acorns.

Acorns stored in the holes

Cormorants were working the lake today too.

After years of drought, it was good to visit Lake Sonoma again and see it so full of water, and so empty of noisy boaters. Friends in the Petaluma Paddlers may go up to another part of the lake on Sunday. They’re in for a treat.